Automatic railway-signal



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UNITED STATES v NATHAN B. HOLDSWVORTH,

or SPENCERVILLE, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY-SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 354,137, dated December14-, 1886.

Application filed August 6, 1886.

To to whom it may concern:

Be .it known that I, NATHAN B. HOLDS- WORTH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, resid ing at Spencerville, in the county ofAllen and State ofOhio, have invented new and useful Improvements in AutomaticRailway-Signals, of which the following is a specification.

Hy invention relates to an improvement in automatic railway-signals; andit consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices,that will be more fully set forth hereinafter, and particularly pointedout in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of arailWay-signal embodyingmy improvements. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same; Fig. 3 is avertical transverse section taken on the line mm of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is asimilar View taken on the line 3 3; of Fig. 2.

A 13 represent railway-tracks which intersect each other and therebyform a crossing. At the intersection of the said tracks islocatedavertical standard, 0, which is provided at its upper end with apivoted signal board or arm, D. This signal board or arm should bepainted red to indicate danger. Alongside the track A, at a suitabledistance from the track B, is located a stand or frame, E, comprising abase-plate, e, and a top plate or Between the said base and top platesis jo'urnaled a vertical rod, F, which is provided at its upper end witha tappet-arm, f, which extends at right angles from the said rod. At asuitable distance below the tappetarmf, and extending at rightanglestherefrom, is a lever-arm,f.

G represents a coiled spring which is placed on the rod F. The upper endof this spring is attached to the lever-arm f, and the lower end thereofextends outwardly and engages a stop or pin, H.

On the same side of the track A with the stand E, but much nearer theintersection of the track B, is located a similar stand, I, which isprovided with a vertical shaft or rod, K, having at its upper end abovethe stand a right-angled tappetarm, 7c, and below the said arm and in aline therewith is a similar rod, k.

L represents a horizontal roclcshaft, which isjournaled in suitablebearings and extends under the stand I, the said rock-shaft beingarranged at right angles to the track A. This shaft is provided at itsends nearest the said i Serial No.210,217. (No model.)

track with a vertical rocking arm, Z, which is firmly attached to theshaft, and at the opposite end of the said shaft is a similar arm, Z.

Z represents a catch, which is pivoted on the outer end of the shaft Land bears against the inner side of the arm Z. The said catch isprovided on one side with an engagingshoulder, Z and is also providedwith abearingspring, Z*, the function of which is to keep the catchnormally in a vertical position. From the outer side of the catch,nearthe outer end thereof, projects a stud, Z which engages the rear side ofthe arm Z, when the said catch is in a vertical position, and limits themove ment thereof.

M represents a coiled spring, which is placed on the inner end of therock-shaft L. One end of the said spring bears under the stand I, andthe other end thereof is attached to the tappet-arm Z.

N represents a rock-shaft, which is arranged parallel with the track Aand extends from the standard 0 to the stand E. The said rockshaft N isjournaled in suitable bearings, and is provided at one end with an arm,a, that is attached to the lever-armj" of the rock-shaft F by means of apitman, O, and universal joints at the ends of the said pitman toconnect it to the lever-arm. The opposite end of the rock-shaft Nisprovided with arms a and a, which extend outwardly from the shaft inopposite directions. The said shaft is also provided with an arm, n,which is adapted to engage the catch.

P represents a rod, which connects the arm n with the arm or signalboardD, on one side of the fulcrum of the latter, and R represents a similarrod, which connects the arm n with the said signal-board on the otherside of the fulcrum or pivot thereof.

S represents a car, which is provided on one side with a right-angledpivoted lever, T.

The said lever has its short arm provided with a projection, t, whichextends outwardly from one side of the car.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The spring G keeps theshaft F and the rockshaft N normally in the position shown in solidlines in Fig. 2, thereby causing the arms a and n of the shaft N to keepthe signalboard normally in a vertical position. The spring M keeps thearms Z and Z of the rockshaft L normallyin a vertical position. When ICCthe car or train running on the track A approaches the-track B from thedirection indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, the hand-lever T is moved soas to cause the projection t to extend outwardly from the car and strikeagainst the tappet-arm f of the shaft F when the car reaches the standE. This causes the shaft F to be moved through'a quarter of a circle,and its lever-arm f causes the shaft N to be also rotated through aquarter of a circle, and thereby causes the arms n and n of the saidshaft to move the signalboard into a horizontal position, one end of thesaid signal board being thus projected over the track B, thus warningany trains on the said track against approaching the track A. As theshaft N is being thus partly rotated its arm n is engaged by the catchZ, and the shaft is thus locked in this position, thus maintaining thedanger-signal at display until the train or car reaches the stand I,when the projection 15 on the said train or car strikes the tappet-arm kof the shaft K and moves the latter, thus causing the tappet-arm k topartly rotate the shaft L by striking its tappet-arm Z and moving thecatch Z out of engagement with the arm 1*, thereby releasing therock-shaft N, when the spring G, by exerting its pressure on'the shaftF, instantly restores the shaft N to its normal position, beforedescribed, and thus returns the signal-board to its vertical normalposition, and indicating that the way is clear.

- Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, witha pivoted signalthe track and adapted to be engaged by a passing train,the said rock-shaft being connected to the shaft N, for the purpose setforth, substantially as described.

2. The combination, in a railwaysignal, of the signal-board D, therock-shaft N, having the arms connected with 'the signal-board andprovided with the 'detent-arm a the reel;-

shaft F, having the tappet-arm f projecting normally toward the trackand adapted to be engaged by a passing train, the said rock-shaft beingconnected to the shaft N, so as to impart motion to the latter, theshaft L, having the spring-actuated catch Z adapted to en.- gage thedetent-arm n, the shaft K, having the tappet-arrn 7c and connected tothe shaft L, so as to partly rotate the latter when the shaft K ismoved, and thereby release the catch from the detent-arm, and the springto return the mechanismtoits normal position, substantially asdescribed.

In'testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

NATHAN B. HOLDSWVORTH.

Vitnesses:

A. O. HARTER, O. W. MYERs.

